Electrical equipment such as, for example, relays, circuit breakers, electric meters and transformers, are typically housed within an enclosure such as, for example, a housing, such as a box or cabinet, to protect the electrical equipment. Electrical equipment can be held in load centers that include electrical busses with conductors permitting electrical current to be carried throughout the electrical load center. Electrical busses may contain features permitting attachment of fuses, relays, switches, wires, breakers, and other electrical elements.
When such electrical equipment is disposed outdoors, it should be protected from the environment, for example, to prevent electrical faults caused by moisture. Accordingly, outdoor electrical enclosures are provided with a variety of moisture-resistant devices such as hoods and/or overlapping covers and doors.
FIG. 1 shows an example of one such enclosure. Specifically, an outdoor electrical enclosure 2 is shown which generally comprises a housing 4 having opposing sides 6, 8, a back panel 10 extending between the sides 6, 8, a bottom 12, a hood 14, and a door 16. The door 16 is coupled to side 6 of the housing 4 by way of telescopic hinge assemblies 18. The telescopic hinge assemblies 18 are structured to permit the door 16 to be adjusted in the vertical direction for providing a proper moisture-resistant fit with respect to the hood 14, such that the hood 14 partially covers or overlays the top of the door 16 when the door 16 is closed. Telescopic hinges are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,879,483 issued on Apr. 12, 2005 to Johnson et al., entitled “Outdoor Electrical Enclosure and Hood Therefor” and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0053677, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if recited in full herein.
Generally stated, each telescopic hinge assembly 18 includes a hinge pin 20, which is coupled to the side 6 of the enclosure housing 4, and a corresponding hinge bracket 22. The hinge brackets 22 are separate components which are suitably fastened to the side flange 24 of the door 16. Each hinge bracket 22 includes a tubular portion 26 that pivotably receives a corresponding one of the hinge pins 20, and a flange segment 28 which is welded to the door side flange 24. Similar multi-component hinge assemblies (not shown) are employed for pivotable doors which are not required to be telescopic in nature, with the primary difference of such doors being only that the pins (not shown) are not structured to provide vertical movement of the door 16.